(Yicai Global) Nov. 25 -- Chinese lithium salts producer Yahua Industrial Group said it will invest as much as USD145 million to acquire majority stakes in two companies that own four lithium mines in Namibia after last month dropping a plan to buy into Canada’s Ultra Lithium.

Yahua International Investment and Development will buy a 70 percent stake in two Hong Kong units of China Africa Industrial that own 70 percent of the four lithium mines, the Chengdu-based company said late yesterday.

The mines have rights over 720 square kilometers in Namibia’s Damaraland mining district. Their deposits have not yet been determined, but if they turn out to be less than 150,000 tons, China Africa Industrial should find other valuable mines for Yahua, under the agreement.

Yahua aims to lift its self-sufficiency rate in lithium resources to more than 50 percent by 2025, it said in an investor research record published at the end of May. The firm has been actively chasing opportunities to gain control of lithium mines and salt lake projects in China and abroad.

But Yahua announced on Oct. 13 that it was withdrawing from a plan to invest in Ultra Lithium, a Canadian lithium and gold explorer, because changes in the international environment could have impacted the mining sector, resulting in slower development.

Soon after, a number of Chinese listed companies said that they had been notified by regulator Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to divest their assets in critical minerals companies.

Yahua’s stock price [SHE: 002497] closed 0.9 percent lower today at CNY26.65 (USD3.72). 

Editor: Futura Costaglione